


The Story of Vacuo: Shade Academy

by sweettoothdinosaur



Category: RWBY
Genre: I tried to make it close to canon as possible, Multi, Nolan is from California i can sense it, Roosterteeth please don't read this because it's probably dumb, Roosterteeth will not give me their backstories so I have to write them, Shade Academy, Shippings will vary, a lot of this will be inspired by California and Arizona, each chapter has a focus on each character, i love the brnz team, it has a lot of shenanigans, no one will read this but who cares, this fanfiction was written by a Californian, vacuo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 02:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11221101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweettoothdinosaur/pseuds/sweettoothdinosaur
Summary: How did the teams BRNZ and NDGO form? We just don't know, so I decided to write abut them as a side story to the main series.What happens in Shade Academy of Vacuo? Just a bunch of students trying to entertain themselves in the middle of the desert. This includes many nights of parties, pranks, dares, and finding ways to keep having fun! With all of those things in mind, it comes with struggles and hardships that the students need to face on their paths to becoming hunters and huntresses.





	1. Initiation

**Author's Note:**

> Get past the first chapter and the second one will be better.

Dry and hot. That’s Vacuo. At least that's how everyone describes it nowadays.  

There used to be a time when it was like a paradise. An oasis. That is what the elders and scholar taught to the children over in the western continent. Those from the furthest west to the heart of the desert. This land of the previous paradise is gone. Just like the government system. Now, there is one place of law and peace.  

Shade Academy.

Parents hope for their children to become hunters and huntresses in this school. To have a sense of order and control for their future. It was better to be in school than to be left alone in the middle of the harsh land.

Vacuo wasn't all that bad when you go further west. However, the people living there avoid the desert society and live in their agriculturally-rich land. Only hunters and huntresses end up traveling the desert if they went to Shade Academy because it's the nearest and accessible.

One of those hunters' names was “Nolan Porfirio.” 

He stood at the school's front, carrying only a pack. His eyes were looking around the school’s surroundings. Running a hand through his reddish hair, he let out a sigh. Scanning through the school, he saw that a majority of students, with their luggage, were walking into a building.  

"I guess that's where we'll be starting." He said, making his way to the large building.

It was much cooler inside. The air-conditioner blasted in the room of diverse students. Both fauna and human. They all had their "luggage" with them. Usually a bag or a single trunk where they treasured their personal belongings. There was no need for a stack of suitcases in a place like this. However, some students could be found with more luggage. 

He stood near the back of the crowd, not wanting to stand face-to-face with the headmaster. He looked at the crowded room of students. All of them were loudly talking with their friends and laughing. Boys were yelling and boasting. Girls were gossiping and screaming when they saw their friends. His hands reached for the pair of aviators hanging from his shirt. Putting on them on, he stayed silent and looked around the room, waiting for something to happen.  

Soon enough, a foghorn was blasted throughout the room. Everyone was startled by this and slowly ended their conversations, causing the noise level quieted down. The redhead saw a figure walk up to the podium, but couldn't make out their physical appearance. The headmaster sounded the airhorn again, so the students would turn their attention to him. When Nolan thought that the chaos was over, a toilet paper roll flew across the stage and everyone laughed. A smile spread across his face as well.

"Ah yes, I see that we're excited to be here." The speaker said, looking down at the toilet paper roll trailing across the stage. "I'm loving the energy here- But I suggest that you save it for tomorrow."

“Tomorrow?" The redhead whispered.

"That's when we go through initiation." Someone whispered back at the redhead. He was startled that someone heard him, but acted to seem unsurprised. His attention went back the speaking headmaster.  

"It's great to see everyone alive!" He announced as everyone laughed again. When the laughter died down, everyone waited to see what he would say next. Despite not being able to read his face, Nolan could hear the sudden change of tone.

"..."

"Does anyone know why they're here?" He asked. The room was murmuring answers, but they came to an agreement that it was to become hunters and huntresses.

Silence fell and the headmaster began talking again, "We've all heard it, _'Shade Academy is the only place of law and order.'_ It is true. But Shade Academy is more than _this_. I want to create a place that will teach society to have each others' back. It sounds really 'stupid.' _I know_ what you teenagers are thinking. However, you will learn more than fighting and defending. You will learn to connect. To help the fallen. To build relationships and friendships. To care about the ones who you would least expect."

 "Imagine if you have fallen. Who will be there to help you?" A woman took the microphone from the headmaster. This caused the students to whisper amongst each other in confusion and discomfort.

"We are not expecting you to be heroes." He said. "We expect you to do better than what you have done. To avoid the path of guilt, crime, and darkness. Learning to rise for others who will rise for you. Then you will learn to understand that Shade Academy is a two-way road."

With that being said, he took a megaphone from the podium and handed it to his assistant. She announced that the girls will be headed to the north gym and boys will be in the south gym for tonight. Slowly, the crowd began to walk out of the auditorium and into the halls. Nolan looked around, unsure of what to do next. It was too early to sleep and he wasn't sure where to explore. He began to walk out of the auditorium, passing by students with a smile on his face. Behind his aviators, he never had to make eye contact and could hear every conversation. He waited for someone to have an opening spot within the conversation.

"What's with the whole North Gym and South Gym thing? Vale doesn't do that." Someone said out loud.

"It's because of the fact that they have a ballroom." A girl answered. Soon enough, this slowly evolved into a friendly conversation between the two. Nolan thought for a moment and saw he could easily talk with them.

"...So are we saying this school is smaller than Beacon?" He looked at both of them.

"No, it's just that Beacon has a different way of using their space in Vale." She explained. "We have more facilities that train us to be in different environments actually."

"Differents environments?" The guy said. His brown hair was styled in cornrow dreadlocks with golden clasps. He wore a green buckled vest and rolled-up, white pants.

"You know, like a swimming pool." She answered. "That way, we could be taught swimming lessons and cool down from the heat."

"I see." Nolan took off his sunglasses and hung it on his shirt.

"I'm Nebula." She took out both of her hands to shake with the redhead and brunette. Her dark hair was cut short and puffed up. Her eyes color matched the other boy's. Olive.

"Roy Stallion." He said. Then they both looked at Nolan.

"I'm Nolan." He shook both of their hands.

"New here?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I'm new here." He answered. "No friends yet, I suppose."

"C'mon we just met and shook hands." The brunette rolled his eyes. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"I guess so," The redhead give a laugh and shrugged. They looked at the girl they just met.

"I already have some friends. But I'll be mutuals with you guys." She smiled.

"Roy, I was looking for you." Someone yelled from behind. Nolan looked to see the person. His muscular build was visible from the tank top he wore. A purple handkerchief was tied to his right knee. His pants were adorned with bronze kneecaps and multiple belt straps. He threw an arm around Roy. His eyes went to Nebula, then Nolan. He looked at them back and forth a couple of times and looked back at his friend.  

"Dude, we have plenty of time to find a spot to sleep at." Roy made a gesture to the other two. "This is Nebula and the redhead is Nolan."

"It's nice to meet you..." Nebula began.

"Brawnz." He held out both hands to shake with the new people. After that, Nebula said that one of her friends was calling her over and walked away from the small group. 

"You excited for tomorrow?" Roy asked. 

"I don't really know," Nolan answered, putting his hand into his pockets. "I'm new to this hunter thing."

"Are you saying that you're a late bloomer?" Brawnz joked.

 "Nah, it was just unexpected." He shrugged.

"You have a lot of catching up to do then." The two friends looked at each other. The olive eyed teen nodded and looked at Nolan. "Want a tour around here? I could explain everything to you in a nutshell."

"Heh, thanks." The new hunter said. Both Brawnz and Roy started to walk ahead. As Nolan began to follow them, a person brushed right past him. He looked back at whoever ran past him and quirked an eyebrow at the person. "A beanie in this heat?"

 

O~O

 

The next morning, the headmaster had been yelling through a megaphone through the hallways to wake up students. At one point, a student stole the megaphone and blasted ridiculous songs throughout the school to annoy everyone.

Last night was... long. Roy gave a crash course on how hunters and huntresses worked. While Brawnz had a good night's sleep, Nolan had some trouble with containing the new information.

He woke up tired, but he knew that he would be better prepared for this day. After a daily morning routine and breakfast, he went to the school's rooftop where the other students were told to wait. Before he could go up, two teachers were giving each student a ring to attach on their clothes' waistline. Meanwhile, another pair of teachers were giving out sports sacks that contained water and sunscreen. Each student was assigned to stand on a square, metal platform.

When all of the platforms were taken, the headmaster looked at his students before averting his gaze towards the dunes.

"You're all going to be launched into the desert, everyone." He stated and everyone's mouth practically dropped. "In Beacon, you would have to do a fancy landing. But because this is just sand, the only fancy landing you'll get is by landing on a big rock. Anyways, you will have to collect relics in the abandoned dust mines and return here before sunset." 

"With a partner of course." His assistant walked with a megaphone and scroll. She turned to face the students. " _Everyone_ here should be aware of the dangers of the desert. Because of this, we _require_ that you wear these rings on your clothes. The moment that you make eye contact with your future partner, these rings will activate and you'll be attached to each other by a line."

"Not only that, but it also means you'll be with your partner for the next four years!" The headmaster added. He gave a look at his assistant and she tapped on the scroll. Soon enough, multiple students were screaming as they were being launched into the vast desert. 

Up in the air, Nolan wasn't sure how far he would have been launched. Although, his eyes immediately spotted a cliff. He ended up landing on the flat terrain with his shoes skidding against the rough surface. Regaining his balance, he looked around the area.

Empty.

Seeing that no one there, he put on his aviators and began wandering around.

You can't make direct eye contact with someone if they don't know where _you_ are looking at.

Walking towards the cliff's edge, he looked down to see black dots on the rocky walls. Taking a closer look, the black dots became hollowed-out caves. A sense of realization struck him as he looked into the canyon’s walls.

It was going to be impossible to find relics in these hundreds of caves.

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" He sighed and made his way to the nearest path to the caves. Each cave was just a duplicate of the next one. He finally gave in and entered the third cave he saw.

Inside was cooler. It may have been pitch black, but it was better than staying in the sun.His hands touched the tunnel's cold surface. Only the sound of his steps could be heard. This environment made him feel... unsettled. There was no life in these caves. No feeling.

It wasn't like the countryside peace... Slowly he reached for the baton on his side— Wait. No. He stopped and thought for a moment. He didn't want to expose himself in the caves. He didn't want someone random as his partner. He began to walk further into the tunnels without light. He wondered if anybody else ended up with a partner. If they did, then he would get stuck with someone who would probably poke fun at him for having a ridiculous weapon. His back leaned against the walls as he slid down to sit. Drinking the bottle of water, he saw the weapons that everyone had.

All of the weapons were either giant swords or machinery powered by dust. At least those could do serious damage.

 _Step_.

That sound got him standing up again. A student was in the same tunnel as he was.

If he stayed quiet, then he would be unfound. From there, he could continue his search for an artifact and hopefully not end up with a person he couldn't see.

However, the redhead knew that he couldn't stay there forever. The person could end up walking towards the cave's exit. Because of this, he ventures further into the tunnel, hoping to find a different exit. The sounds of footsteps disappeared and he grinned to himself. He saw the light of a different exit and began to walk out into the sunlight.

That's when it happened. A student from the cave above him jumped off the ledge.

Nolan turned around, but it was too late. Someone accidentally kicked him in the chest. He fell and his upper body went off the ledge. His breaths deepen as he looked up at the blue sky. The kick didn't hurt him, but he didn't want to see the ground below him.

A hand grabbed him and tried to jerk him back up. As he was being pulled up, his aviators loosened and he hoped that they didn't fall off yet. With a final jerk, the other student got him sitting up at the cliff's path.

Suddenly, they ran into the cave before Nolan saw their face. He blinked in confusion.

It seems that he wasn't the only one avoiding partners.

Now he was curious.

He walked back into the cave he previously left. Hoping to hear a sound from the other student, he tried to stay quiet with his movements. However, they were good at hiding their presence.

Finally, he slumped against the way. He didn't understand why he was suddenly interested in finding the person because that was the last thing he wanted during this initiation. Was it because they were on a similar page of avoiding people? Whatever it was, he knew that the other person wanted the same thing as he did. However, neither of them could see each other and communicate this idea.

He needed to talk.

"Hey, thanks for the save back there- even though you kicked me in the chest." He called throughout the tunnel. No response was given. "Anyways, I know that you don't want to be partnered up right away. I don't either."

A shuffle came from the silent cave. At least he wasn't talking to himself.

"That's all I wanted to let you know basically." He kicked the ground. "Feel free to talk back to me because it looks like I'm talking to myself in an empty. cave."  

"You're welcome." A voice breathed softly. Nolan found himself smiling at the voice and he started walking again.

"You're pretty good at being stealthy. I'm impressed." He commented, tracing his fingertips across the walls.  

"Thanks." The person paused. "I'm sorry for kicking you in the chest back there. It was an accident."

"It's alright." He said. "I get kicked in the chest a lot."

"Really?" Curiosity mixed with the person's voice.  

"Both animals and people." He explained. "It doesn't hurt as much after twelve years."

"Twelve years?" A snicker came from her. "Are you sure that you aren't lying?"  

"I'm being totally honest." Nolan stopped in his tracks for a moment. "Where do you think the relics are?"

"Probably somewhere in the tunnels..." She trailed off. "Judging from his personality, our headmaster would put the relics in ridiculous places."

"No kidding." He agreed with the voice.

"But I guess he's okay as a person." She stated. A silence had fallen between them and their footsteps echoed throughout the dust mine. The redhead wasn't sure what to say next. He bit his lower lip, wondering about the person who was walking with him. Finally, he stopped and took a deep breath.

"My name's Nolan. What's yours?" The girl was silent for a long moment.

"You can just call me 'May.' It's easier than my first name." She sighed, clicking open her water bottle. They continued to walk through the darkness without talking. 

"Do you ever wonder how everyone else is doing?" He asked.

"They might be doing better than us," May answered. "I keep on seeing a bunch of people finding relics and getting out of this place right away."  

"I could relate, I don't like this place either." Nolan said. "It feels off."

"I guess, but this must be home to Grimm." She paused. "I'm surprised that we haven't come across any..."  

"Well, Grimm will only go towards darkness and negative feelings." They took a turn in the tunnel. "Maybe it's because neither of us feel scared."

"Scared? There's more to it than that. There's also anger and grief." She pointed out and quickly changed the subject. "Have you ever fought one of them?"

"It's how I got into this school too."

"Really?"

"Yeah."  

"..."  

"Have you ever faced a Grimm?"  

"To be honest... not yet." May answered. "It's why I'm here as well."

"Wow." He laughed. "We're both here because of Grimm AND we're trying to avoid partners."

"Heh, that's kinda weird." She stifled a soft laugh. "But it's not all bad. I prefer the silence, but these tunnels are something else..."

Suddenly, they heard two voices coming ahead of them. Immediately, Nolan recognized those voices. Both Brawnz and Roy ended up as partners because of the light that glowed from their line. Seeing this, he didn't have to worry about making eye contact with them. They stopped when they saw the redhead.

"No partner yet?" Roy commented and the other boy nodded.

"You can't make eye contact when you have these babies on." He pointed to his aviators. "Anyways, have you gotten any luck with the relics?"

"No, not yet." Brawnz replied. "But we just overheard that some student was going to explode part of the dust mine."

"So you're waiting to hear something go 'boom' and run over there?" Nolan folded his arms at them.

"Basically... yes." The brunette stated.  

"Alright—"

"That's seriously dangerous, though." May spoke up in the darkness. The partnered duo was surprised by her sudden voice and looked at Nolan. 

"Hey look, there's a student. Why don't you guys make eye contact so you could have a source of light?" Brawnz suggested.  

"No can do. May and I made an agreement not to make eye contact with each other." Nolan shook his head at them. For a moment, the tunnel was utterly silent. 

"That is the most stupid thing I've heard today." He stated in annoyance. "You are supposed to bring the relic back _with_ a partner."

"And?" Nolan lifted up his aviators.  

"YOU NEED TO FIND A PARTNER IF YOU WANT TO FIND THE DAMN RELIC!" Brawnz throws his hands downwards. 

"What he means is... Our headmaster had a catch to finding these relics." His partner spoke up. "The relics will only appear when you've been partnered up, you see."

"That's stupid." May immediately stated.

"I'm with her." Nolan pointed at the direction of her voice.

"If you're _with_ her, then why not be partners?" Roy said in a slow voice. "It seems that you're getting along with each other—"  

 _ **BOOM.** _  

Suddenly, the ground cracked. The four of them backed away from the growing fissure. Walls crumbled from where they previously stood. A beam of light entered from the collapsing mine. Dust flew into their tunnel. Taking cover from the wind of debris, it took an entire minute for the crushing rocks to stop. After a long silence, the flying dust had stopped and light entered where they were.

The tunnel before them had disappeared. Light exposed in their direction.

Slowly, the boys walked towards the cave's newly created ledge. Looking down, they saw that a quarter of the canyon was in rubble and debris. There was a moment of silence. One moment, the partnered boys were walking from the direction of that tunnel. The next moment, it collapsed in a matter of seconds. The tunnel's structure turned into a mountain of rock chunks and dust bits.

This moment of silence didn't last forever. 

A loud hiss came from May's direction. Brawnz looked at his friend they made a jump towards the bank of rock. Quickly, Nolan made a jump for the outside as well. Landing on the ground, he felt a concern for the girl back in the cave. 

He didn't hear her jump onto the rocky mountain. He gave a look towards Brawnz and Roy. They noticed that she didn't jump off like they did. 

However, they didn't have the time to focus on her because a black creature shifted from beneath the rubble. Its legs were climbing onto the rocks' surface. The boys were taken aback by the monstrous size of the Grimm. 

"I'm guessing this is why she said exploding the canyon was stupid." Nolan said.

"You think?" Roy said in a harsh voice. He watched as Brawnz started to close in towards the Grimm. As much as they didn't want to fight it, there was no escape within the mountain of rocks. The duo started fighting the Grimm in a close range as Nolan could only watch. He wanted to take out his weapon, but he knew that this wasn't the best time to use it when it was a three-on-one fight. 

A feeling of alarm rushed through him as more Grimm crawled from beneath the rocks. They were much smaller with their three-part bodies. However, they were crawling fast and trying to attack the three hunters.  

This was a fight that he could do one-on-one. He took out the cattle prod from the side of his belt. Charged up with electricity, he jabbed at the ant-like Grimm crawling towards him and the other two boys. He focused on taking out the smaller Grimm, but his thoughts wandered off to the girl back in the cave. Was she still there? 

The words from yesterday echoed into his mind. Should he have grabbed her and jumped onto the ground of broken rocks? But that wouldn't be a good idea either... There was a swarm of Grimm attacking him and the other two. Yet, she told him that she's never fought a Grimm face-to-face. 

He remembered the day that he was forced to defend himself from a Grimm. 

His grip tightened as he shook himself from those memories. He glared at the black creatures and continued to just stab them with electricity. Taking a quick look at Roy and Brawnz, they were struggling to fight the larger Grimm. 

Being distracted for only a moment, one of the smaller Grimm reached his leg and another was snapped at his foot. Trying to regain his balance, he frantically tried to fend them off.

In the blink of an eye, a light shot at towards the Grimm near him. Turning around, he tried to see who was shooting at the Grimm. However, they were not visible from his point of view. In the back of his mind, he had a feeling of who may have shot the dust bullet.

The dust bullets kept on coming. Shot by shot. Each one landing an accurate hit on each Grimm. Eventually, the other two noticed the pattern of shots coming from above them. However, they need to keep their focus on the Grimm that they were facing. As the three were fighting off the Grimm, a whirl of sand flew by and carried off the small creatures. The boys looked up to find a quartet of girls who were already partnered up.

"You guys need a hand?" Nebula jumped from the ledge with another girl in a green dress. Following after them were another pair of girls. The one with long red hair carried a jagged dagger and Nebula's partner carried a large spear.

"Yeah, we need to get rid of this Grimm." Roy chucked his spinning saws towards its stinger.

"First, we need to wipe out these ants! They're everywhere!" Brawnz jumped back to dodge the Grimm's pincers.

"Dew, this is your cue." Nebula looked at the blonde next to her. Dew rolled her eyes at the rhyme and dug her spear into the rocks. A small tornado formed, picking up small rocks and dirt. She repeated this action until there was were enough tornadoes to carry the ant Grimms away from the battle.

The only opponent left was the giant Death Stalker trying to claw at the two teenagers. While Nolan backed away from the group match, everyone else went to fight the sharp creature.

"Hey, Gwen!" The noirette nodded at her partner. They stretched out their line with Gwen spinning it towards herself. When she was done wrapping the line around her skirt, the redhead jerked the line. As result of this, Gwen twirled in the air to throw multiple knives at a closer range. After that, she was reeled back to where her partner stood.

"Looks like that didn't work." Nebula sighed, running a hand through her hair. She looked at back at the other duo. Pointing over to them, she said, "Octavia, lend your dagger to Gwen! Gwen try to stab the Death Stalker’s eyes!"

"We'll hold down the Grimm." Brawnz yelled as he shoved his claw weapons into the its walking legs. He looked at his friend. "Roy! Keep its attention away from the girl!"

"Right!" He yelled back. While they were distracting the Grimm, both girls carried out Nebula's orders. Gwen wrapped the line around her waist again and took she dust-powered dagger from the redhead. She spun into the air again, stabbing the dagger into one of the beast's eyes. However, its stinger was immediately aiming for the girl with brown eyes.

Without hesitation, Brawnz jumped up and held back the aculeus. He made a motion for Gwen to get off the black creature. Seeing this, Octavia pulled on the line to get her partner off. Now, Brawnz had been left with pushing against the beast's pressure.  

Jumping onto the Death Stalker, Nebula took out her sword and struck it into the Grimm. As a result of this, it let out an ear-piercing screech and shook off the students on it.

"My sword!" Nebula reached a hand toward the silver handle, but Brawnz took it instead. They both landed away from the Grimm. They looked to see that the Grimm was heading towards Nolan's direction. Immediately, Roy tried to run to Nolan and failed when his line with Brawnz wouldn't go any further.

"Hey! Someone's up there!" Octavia pointed out to a student climbing off the higher ledge. The girl with dark hair saw this and ran to Brawnz's side. Grabbing back her sword, she changed it into a crossbow and focused on the upper ledge that the girl was coming down from.

As this was happening, Nolan was trying to fend off the Grimm that he faced alone. He attempted to tase the Grimm for a long period of time. Hoping it would get paralyzed eventually, he looked up at the ledge again.  

A pair of legs were dangling from the ledge. The person was above the other one that he previously jumped from. A thought came to his mind about May getting past the Grimm she faced alone. She might have snuck past the hissing Grimm and made her way to the upper level of the tunnels.

Nolan wanted to find out. However, the Grimm could stab him at any given moment. He continued to electrocute it. Concern was written all over his because the person above him was losing grip. They could fall towards the Death Stalker and end up getting tased as well. Or worse. Stabbed by the golden stinger filled with deadly poison.

Finally, the person above him fell. His grip on the baton loosened and the no longer charged. His eyes widened when they were about to fall into its pincers. Jumping up, he closed his eyes tightly and tackled the falling person into the tunnel.

Nebula saw this as her chance. With Nolan and the other student out of the way, she shot her crossbow at the Grimm from the ledge and jerked it back. But the Grimm didn't even budge. Because of this, Brawnz took the crossbow from her.

"Grab on! Let's pull this Grimm down!" He commanded. Hearing this, everyone took hold of the bow and dragged it off the rocky ledge. Gravity got the best of it and the beast crashed onto the blinded Death Stalker below.

A cloud of dust dispersed from this action. Everyone coughed, shielding themselves from the dirt and debris. When it had cleared out, both of the Grimm were still. The group of students looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. However, Nebula's eyes stared into the cave nearby. The last thing she saw was Nolan and the other student getting thrown into the darkness. 

"Do you think that those two are alright?" She questioned, lowering her eyebrows. 

"I don't know how to answer that..." Roy replied and they all waited. The aura from Nolan and the student would have let them survive the landing. 

It took a minute for them to them to see a familiar redhead running from the darkness. He ran to the group with a smirk on his face. His pink sunglasses were gone, so they saw his expression. Everyone looked at each other in relief to see that he was okay. When he reached to where they were, Nebula gave a solemn look. 

"Is the other student okay?" She asked.  

"She is." Nolan smiled. "But you see, we had an agreement to avoid eye contact with each other."

"Huh?" A mix of confusion and respite filled her voice.

"She's going to follow us when we enter the caverns you guys came from." He added. Both Roy and Brawnz rolled their eyes at him.

"That's right." Dew said to her partner. "We need to find the relics soon."

"I found out that there's writing on the walls in each cavern." Gwen explained to everyone. "They were like directions. However, the light emitting from our partner lines don't last long enough. Octavia and I need to constantly charge them in the sun."  

"Directions." Roy said in a deadpan voice.  

"That's our headmaster." The redhead nervously laughed.

"I think that I have an idea." Dew looked directly at Nolan. Particularly at the weapon he had. "Why don't you charge our partner lines? That way, the light can last longer while we walk through the cave."

"I guess that this means we might as well work as a group." Brawnz commented.

Everyone agreed on the blonde's plan to power their partner lines and walk into the tunnels. Gwen and her partner led where they found the directions. From there, they took the route that led them deeper into the tunnel's system. Finally, they were at a two-way path. Each one having a dead end.

"It looks like this is it." Nebula stated. Each team went to choose their respective relics.

Nolan didn't see any of them. When they got there, the lines from their lines stopped glowing as they ran off to grab a relic. At first, he was just speechless. Everyone was shouting in and deciding what relic they should get. They did this without a light. The redhead boy was confused how they could see the relics in the dark.  

"Hey, isn't the redhead suppose to get a relic?" Dew's voice echoed.

"Yeah... Nolan, why aren't you getting one?" Nebula agreed with her partner.  

"I can't see them." He replied.  

"It's because he couldn't get a partner!" Roy called out at him.

"What?! Don't you know that you need a partner to see the relics!" Octavia gasped.

"Well... no." The redhead answered as he turned back from the room of relics. He groaned and knocked his head on the wall repeatedly. He heard the footsteps coming from behind him and stopped.

"...So did you find the place?" May's voice entered the room.

"Yeah, but you need a partner to see and grab the relics..." He sighed and an awkward silence fell between them.

"I guess that'll just go then..." She started to walk away.

"May, hold up." Nolan said to her. Her footsteps stopped.

"..."

"You can be partners with me." He said with a smile in his voice.  

"Are you really sure?" She quietly asked.

"Yeah." Nolan answered as he reached for his baton. When he could feel her presence to close his, he lit a spark of electricity between them. The flash was only for a moment and they made eye contact for barely a second.

 

O~O

 

After retrieving their relics, everyone walked out of the dust mine caves. Then all eight students started heading back in the eastern direction. During the trip, they were talking about the recent events that happened that day.  

“I wonder who blew up that part of the canyon…” Brawnz recalled. “I thought that is was just a fake rumor.”

“Whoever it was, they must have taken advantage of the dust found those abandoned mines.” Nebula assumed. “I hope that they’re the last ones to find a relic because that was such a _low_ move.”

“I’m surprised that a giant Death Stalker was hiding underneath that entire structure!” Octavia exclaimed as she spoke with Roy and the other two girls. While the six students were involved in their own conversations, Nolan and May walked behind them in their own conversation.

“Hey, Nolan.” May began. “Why didn’t you want to find a partner during initiation? You look like the type to make friends easily.”

“I didn’t want anybody to end up with me. I use a cattle prod as a weapon and who wants a teammate like that?” He answered, looking at the shorter girl. “Why didn’t _you_ want to partnered up?”

“Because I knew that no one would give me the chance.” She replied, taking in a deep breath. “And then, you were the first person to give me that chance. You’re great.”

“You’re pretty awesome, too.” He continued. “You’re like a professional sniper who had my back when I was fighting off those Grimm. Plus, you kept your cool when facing that Grim by yourself. I don’t deserve to be your partner honestly.”

‘You sure about that?” May said in a sarcastic voice. “We ended up being partners in the end.”

“Okay. You got me there.” The redhead gave her a smirk. Looking up at the sky, the sun was starting to set. A gradient of warm colors and the night sky met each other. The daylight went west of the cascading mountains with streaks of pink clouds. As they were traveling east, the sky had faded to a soft magenta color.

After walking for forty-five minutes, they reached the school grounds. There, they raced up to the roof to find the headmaster by a bonfire and roasting marshmallows. They walked up to him and showed their relics from the abandoned dust mines. He nodded at them and encouraged everyone to take a seat by a bonfire to roast marshmallows and wait for more partnered students to arrive. While students were waiting, teachers came by to deactivate their partner lines.

When the sun had finally set, their headmaster got up to announce teams and team leaders. All of the students waited anxiously to hear whether they would be with their friends or rivals. Soon enough, Nebula went up to be team leader.

“Nebula Violette, your teammates are Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy, and Octavia Ember.” He announced as the crowd of students clapped. “You four will be known as Team NDGO.”

“Nice!” All four of them cheered because they knew each other. After them, Brawnz was called up.

“Brawnz Ni, your teammates are Roy Stallion, Nolan Porfirio, and May Zedong.” He announced. All of the students looked at each other in surprise. The three went up and seemed happy that they already knew each other. While Brawnz gave a fist bump with his friend and Nolan struck a pose, May just gave an awkward smile. The headmaster just looked at them, continuing. “I already like you kiddos, From now on, you’ll be known as Team BRNZ!”

And that was how both teams were created that night of bonfires and marshmallows. 


	2. And Let the Fun and Games Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore the made-up-team because they're here to add some plot to the story. 
> 
> A.K.A. They're basically just the team CRDL of Shade Academy.

"So... how is this going to work?" May looked at the dorm room where her team was going to stay at. There was a count of four total beds side-by-side. All of them were storage beds with drawers to keep personal belongings in. Judging by the yellowing curtains, it looked as if it hadn't been occupied for a long time.

Entering the room, there was a sliding closet on the wall that served as a standing mirror. Two desks and chairs sat on each side of the room. Instead of having chests or shelves, the school gave them two sets of tall storage cubes.

Brawnz looked at May, then the room. He did not mind having her as a teammate, but he knew that she was going to be living in a room with three boys. Being the team leader, he felt as if he needed to solve the situation. He didn't personally know her, but there was a feeling that she was willing to share a room with her team.

"Hey, I'll handle this with Roy." Brawnz stated. The two partners looked at each other for a moment. Without warning, they ushered their other teammates out of the room. Closing the door shut, they could hear the two arranging the furniture. Both Nolan and May looked at each other as the raucous thumping came from their dorm room.

"You're really okay with sharing a room with three guys?" He asked.

"I am." The sniper answered. Her hands fiddled with the strings of her hoodie. "Still, I feel a bit awkward about it because I never thought I would share a room with anyone. Are you okay with me being the room, though?"

"Not at all. I had to share my room with my siblings before moving to the attic." Nolan replied and patted his partner on the shoulder. "You can always go sleep at with the girls."

They looked at the door in front of them. Team NDGO was moving into the room and they were cleaning out the place. Sometimes one of them would give them a friendly wave as they walked back and forth. After a couple of minutes, Brawnz kicked the door open. Peering inside the dorm room, both teammates were shocked at the sight.

Within a matter of minutes, both boys had rearranged the entire living space. Not only that, but they were able to clean out the dust and lessened the walls' yellowing stains. As for the room itself, both boys were able to arrange it comfortably for the team. May's bed would take the corner near the window. On the opposite side was Brawnz's bed. At the foot of their beds were the tall cube storages. A string was attached between the two shelving units. Another string was tied to the curtain rod. A large sheet had veiled the bed that May would sleep at. At the other end of the room were Nolan's and Roy's beds. Both desks were placed near the redhead's bed to separate from his teammates.

**[Visual Reference if the Description is Confusing]**

"Nice job here..." Nebula popped her head in the room. She nodded in approval at the arrangement. Turning her attention to May, she told her that she could drop by NDGO's room anytime. With that, the dark-haired girl left.

"Wow, this is so nice of you to do, Brawnz." She blinked at her team leader.

"Well, you need your privacy and respect, so..." Brawnz looked to the right. "Anyways, you can have the closet. The rest of us will just use the shelves. You know... —it's important for you to feel comfortable here."

"More like you're a mama's boy—" Roy called out. Before he could continue, his partner was ready to attack him. As a result of this, the brunette jumped out of the window and Brawnz gave into the chase. Blank stares came from the other two team members. Closing the door, they began to unpack their belongings into their respective drawers.

As they were putting their things away, they would occasionally hear their leader yelling from outside. Eventually, May decided to close the window to keep the cool air in. She took notice of the things that her partner brought to the dorm. She already knew that students in Vacuo didn't bring a lot, but Nolan was... ridiculous. He carried a single sack thrown over his shoulder.

From the corner of her eye, she saw that he didn't have much clothing or personal belongings. He owned a scroll and his weapon, and that was basically it. On the other hand, she brought more clothes and some of her favorite items from home. Not to mention, she even had a case and cleaning kit dedicated for her own rifle.

When they were don unpacking, the room went into an awkward silence. She left her curtains drawn back and looked at the redhead for a moment. Nolan wore a pair of ripped jeans with a white patch stitched on the left. His attire was mostly casual, but didn't seem quite as urban. As for his hair, it was a deep shade of red. This made a contrast with his bright pink eyes— 

Noticing this, a realization had struck the sniper. She dug through her pockets and took out a pair of pink aviators. Across from her bed, she threw the pair of shades at him.

"You dropped these yesterday, so I just found them in the rubble." May said as she fell back on her bed.

"Uh, thanks." Catching them, the redhead found that the lenses were cleaned. Again, the room fell silent as they were relaxing on their beds. The only thing that was moving had been the ceiling fan.

"What songs do you listen to?" She asked.

"Not a lot." He replied. "I have to keep my music taste appropriate for children."

"Are you saying that I'm a child?" She said with an irritated.

"Nope. I'm saying that my mom made rules about my music whenever my sisters are around." He gave a playful smile to her. She rolled her eyes at his response. However, her gaze quickly averted to the doorway. A slip of paper came from underneath. Getting up, she went to see the what it was.

It was an invitation. The colors were bright and the text was huge.

"Finally something to do." She smiled at herself. Nolan quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"Ever heard of a party filled with teenagers?"

O~O

Team BRNZ arrived at the address. Students from the school were all over the place. Loud pop music was blasting inside the house and multiple conversations took place. Glowing lights had lit up the dark night.

"I thought that you were antisocial." Brawnz stared at the girl.

"I am." She admitted. "But I just came here to steal all the snacks."

Her leader gave her a deadpan stare. Because of this, she slowly inched her way into the house and ran off. His eyes went to the other two boys.

"Well, we don't have anything better to do." Roy shrugged and followed after her. His friend sighed, walking with him. When they were gone, Nolan slipped on his bright pink aviators and strolled inside.

It didn't matter who owned the place. A desert party was a desert party. Everyone was allowed to trash the place and do something. Blasting loud music, hearing everyone cheering and laughing... A release from the shell of boredom and restlessness. May didn't like to talk with the people there, but it was just so amusing to see teenagers in the wild night.

In the backyard, someone made a concoction of Redbull and milk in a keg and people were being dared to drink it. Even though the music was terrible, she could just sneak over and change it. Just as long as it was loud, no one would care. She didn't bother to go upstairs because it would be pointless up there. At the pool, two guys would duel with pool noodles.

Her parents would kill her if they knew that their daughter was there.

And she was there.

May walked into the kitchen where people were chatting and grabbing drinks. It was the calmest place to be since everyone was there to get food. A fauna boy sat on top of the fridge with a canister of whipped cream. When she had passed by him, he offered if she wanted any. Nodding yes, he spritzed a dollop of whipped cream in her mouth.

"Hey dude! Want some beer?" An older student asked. She just shook her head at him and he said, "Hell yeah! More for me and my crew! You can just grab the soda outside!"

May shrugged the boy off and went over to the kitchen counter. From there, she saw her partner talking with a bunch of people. His aviators were on and he was talking nonstop to the clique that formed around him. In reaction, she rolled her eyes from his flamboyant behavior. Nolan was getting popular already.

Something that she could never do.

Giving him one last look, she decided to go outside and watch the two guys dueling each other in the pool. There was a blonde fauna on one end and he was enjoying himself. Meanwhile, his opponent was starting to regret the duel. Turning around, she saw the cooler outside and ran over to see the flavors of cream sodas. As soon as her eye spotted the _"too blue raspberry"_ one, she grabbed it without hesitation. She closed the cooler quickly, but accidentally slammed it onto somebody's hand.

"Sorry!" Her eyes widen at the person who hissed in pain. He stopped for a moment, looking back at the girl.

"Oh. It's no problem." He said in a cool voice, his eyes flashed for a moment. "I'm Chad. And you are...?"

"Er... May..." She answered and looked at him in confusion.

"I'll remember you... May." He began to walk away and blew a kiss at her. She stood there in silence. After a few more moments, she decided to get onto the roof.

On the roof, she could enjoy her cream soda in peace. Cracking open the cold can, she took a gulp of the blue soda. The sniper leaned back and looked at the series of clustered stars. It was a getaway from the loud people and blasting noises. People went up to either smoke or lay back, to recollect themselves from the party. Behind her, she sensed someone walking to her spot. Her first reaction was to get up and stay out of their way. Then a hand pinched the end of her beanie, tucking the hat over her eyes.

"Relax, it's only me." Nolan smirked, letting her beanie go. He took a seat right next to her, opening a can of cream soda. As she adjusted her beanie, she eyed at the can's label.

" _Very vanilla cherry?_ " May scoffed.

"It's a classic." He stated in defense. "What's with you and that _'too blue raspberry'_ flavor?"

"I like how it makes my tongue blue." She grinned at him, sticking her blue-tinted tongue out. He shook his head at her and took a sip of his drink. Looking at him, the girl took note that his aviators were gone. However, he had set them down on his lap. "What's with you and putting those things on?"

"I don't have to look at anyone when I'm talking to them." He gave a soft laugh. "I don't like to give myself away, you know."

"Does that mean you're a loser?" She stifled a laugh. Hearing this, he gave her a fake and dramatic gasp as if she offended him. But the redhead started to laugh with her. "It seems to me that you need those glasses to talk to people."

" _Excuse me!_ But I'm _not_ the person who admitted that they were antisocial!" He pointed out, smirking at her. Sighing, he took another sip of his soda. The muteness allowed them to enjoy their drinks in peace for a few minutes. "I only take my glasses off when I talk with people who I trust."

May only gave him a nod.

O~O

After the party, the team just crashed into their dorm room. Luckily, it was still the weekend by the next morning. Because of this, they stayed in their dorm room all day to sleep. Well, except for the times when one of the girls from the other room went to check up on them. Most of the time, it was with May.

Their lazy weekend came to an end. In the morning, they had to wake up from their blissful day of sleep and go to their first class.

Survival skills was the heaviest-taught class. All students were expected to take it each year, so they will be aware of the dangers and adaptations they will go through. If no one paid attention during this class, the teachers basically said that they'll be screwed. Or die. Depending on the teacher. Therefore, scrolls were taken away and everyone was forced to take studious notes. Students were expected to be soundless throughout the lessons unless given a question.

The hour of that class was over and everyone practically hightailed out of there. Teams separated from each other to walk to their individual classes. It wasn't so bad throughout the whole day. No tests were given out, but some teachers assigned bits of homework. By "bits of homework," they assigned more than one chapter to read.

Then came lunch. One of the loudest hours during school. Every student was talking loudly over each other. It was a sea of endless conversations, gossip, and arguments. Teams BRNZ and NDGO ended up finding each other and sharing a table to isolate themselves from the chatty students. Everyone started to talk about the classes they've had so far and what the teachers were like. May attentively listened to all of the people around her.

It was easier to listen to her teammates and the other team. All she had to do was sit and hear their voices. No one really got interrupted until the room's noises level went down. Something felt off when all of the other students was quieting their voices. Sitting up and turning herself, she caught sight of the boy she saw during the party. He walked in with three other blondish people.

Soon enough, the conversations were changing. The sniper had noticed that they were saying his name. By now, her table noticed the four people walking in the room. Two boys and two girls. They were all blond in some way.

"Oh my god, it's team CHTS (chartreuse)!"

"Aren't they like rich?"

"Damn, Hannah and Tawny are so hot!"

"Did Saffron get a new haircut?!"

Her eye was glued onto Chad. It looked like he went to this school as well. Realizing that he waved at her, the girl looked away from him for staring too long. May turned back to the people at her table. They decided to brush off the team that entered the cafeteria. Instead, they continued to eat their lunch. Seeing them, the sniper thought it was better to join her friends. Just as she was about to finish her salad, a finger tapped on her shoulder. She sat up with a jolt to see team CHTS in front of her table.

"I didn't realize you go to this school, May!" He exclaimed, looking at his teammates. "Hannah, Tawny, Saffron... this is the girl that I was talking about earlier."

All three of them introduced themselves to May's table. Hannah was the girl with average-length hair and green eyes. Tawny was the other girl with a large hairdo. Saffron was the other boy in Chad's team. Everyone shifted uncomfortably because the entire school was staring at their table.

After their introductions, they waited for May to introduce her table.

Her voice was gone. A crowd of students waited and watched to hear her say something. She kept on biting her lower lip. She didn't know how to speak in that moment. Eventually, her hands began to quiver ever so slightly. This caught the blonde's eye and he started to say something.

Except, he was interrupted when another person noticed her body language.

"Excuse me, but my friends and I need to leave." Dew stood up and grabbed May by the arm. She pointed to the clock. "As you can see, lunch will be over in a few seconds."

All eight of them took the chance and quickly exited the cafeteria. Dew had to hold May up for them to exit, but it was worth it. The two teams escaped the place and sprinted towards the library wing.

"What's with blondie back there?" Octavia panted.

"You mean Chad?" A student passed by him. Everyone nodded. "He's one the richest people here, I advise to never associate with him or else he'll find a way to ruin your school year. Maybe even your life as well."

The student left and everyone looked at each other in confusion. After a moment of awkward silence, Dew spoke up.

"If he tries to mess with us again, then I'm going to stab him with my spear." She said.

"Look Dew, we can't just judge a person right away." Nebula tried to talk some sense into her teammate.

"You saw how May reacted back there!" She retorted, looking back at the shorter girl. "Anyway, how did you know him in the first place?"

"A party." Nolan butted in. "I saw him talking... with her."

"That's basically it..." May sighed and shoved her hands into her pockets. "You see, I slammed a cooler on his hand. Then he suddenly blew a kiss at me."

"Okay. I already hate him." The girl took out her spear. "Let's go and hurt him where it hurts."

"Or..." Her team leader pushed down the weapon. "We can just stay out of his way during lunch. Well actually, we probably should eat in our dorm rooms for the next few days. I get the feeling that we're going to be tomorrow's gossip."

When the bell rang, team NDGO waved them a goodbye as they headed for their afternoon classes. May knew that her teammates were staring at her. She waited for Brawnz to yell at her, but he didn't.

"Well, let's try to stick together during classes. Who knows if he's going to mess with one of us when we're alone. Alright?" Her team leader muttered at them. With that, he and Nolan left to go to their next class. This left Roy and his teammate to walk with each other.

"Ugh, I didn't want you guys to get involved with him..." She sighed. "Sorry that he showed up our table."

"May, it's okay. You just didn't know who he was." Roy tried to reassure his teammate. "Plus, he's just a big-shot who hides behind his family's money."

"Yeah..." She trailed off.

"Trust me, I know how guys like him are." He ended the conversation there.

Going into class, the sniper laid took a seat at the back of the classroom. Pulling on her hood, she plugged in her earbuds and went through her scroll for music.

She wished that she wasn't a needy child. Her teammates didn't even know her, but they tried to respect her as best as possible. Brawnz and Roy rearranged the furniture by themselves. Team NDGO always checked on her constantly. And now... her friends were forced into a situation that she brought on herself.

_"I hate this."_

It was like childhood all over again. Memories of her parents went through her mind. How they would always shelter her and keep her away from handling things by herself. She was an only child, but she was seen to be a burden.

It wasn't her fault that she couldn't stand up to Chad and his team.

She never got to talk with a lot of people. How was she supposed to react? What did the world expect her to do? All she could do was watch people and listen to their intents. That was the easier way out. Then she could— 

"Hey, the class is over." Roy stood next to her seat. Looking around, she saw that the room was almost empty. Getting up, she dragged herself out of the classroom with him. "What class do you have next?"

"Target practice." She replied. "I've been waiting all day for this."

"You know, I doubt that you'll be shooting targets right away." The brunette pointed.

"It'll help me take my mind off of things." Waving at her teammate, she started to walk away from him. Arriving at the door, she opened it to see an opened-spaced arena. The place was filled with obstacles, pits, mountains, and places to hide. It was already up to standards with her taste. The teacher told everyone to take a seat on the benches by the side.

Everything was going fine until she turned her head. The leader of CHTS sat next to her with a smile. A switch went off in her body and she remained still.

"It's such a coincidence seeing you here, May." He looked at her with his bright green eyes. "It's such a shame that you couldn't introduce your... acquaintances. How have you been?"

"Fine." She stated. Knowing that he was going to be taking classes here, she planned out every hiding space in the room.

O~O

Thanks to the curtains around her bed, May was able to read in privacy. In her hands was a single graphic novel of _The Outrageous Lives of the Thrilljoys_. If someone ever found it, then she knew that they'll start making fun of her for reading a comic book. In her defense, it was the only one she liked. The leading character was a girl similar to her. Hearing the door open, she quickly hid the comic in her bed's drawer. She pulled the curtains away to see that Nolan entered the room. Without a single word, he dropped all of his books on the desk and landed on his bed.

Hearing the door open, she quickly hid the comic in her bed's drawer. She pulled the curtains away to see that Nolan entered the room. Without a single word, he dropped all of his books on the desk and landed on his bed.

"You okay?" She said.

"Great." He said in a halfhearted voice.

"Don't we all hate studying?" Getting out her textbooks, she began to do homework on her bed.

"Yup." He agreed, taking out a book from his drawer. He removed a photo from the novel and began through it. "I guess that I'm not used to schoolwork."

"Unfortunately, I am." She sighed and continued to finish her homework. Her gaze fell on the book's title for a moment before looking at her own work again. The Outcasts. It was one of the classics that turned into a movie. She only saw the movie, but didn't get a chance to read the actual text. As she was writing down her answers, a piece of red licorice was thrown on her papers.

May eyed the redhead in front of her. His smile was playful, but it didn't give him because he always had that smirk. Accepting the candy, she bit off the end and returned to her work. An hour passed by as he continued to throw the licorice strings while she finished the rest of her homework. When May was finally done, he threw a can of _"borrowed-soda-from-the-party"_ at her bed.

"We've known each other for four days and you're already playing jokes, huh?" Looking at the label, it was his soda flavor.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't _'very vanilla cherry'_ your favorite?" Nolan took a sip through his licorice straw. He stuck out his tongue at her, revealing a blue tinted color.

"You give that back!" May threw a pillow at him and it successfully impacted him.

"Don't act like a hot shot for hitting me with a pillow." He laughed at her. "You can have the soda if I miss you."

"Or..." She jumped onto the desk between their beds. Stepping onto his bed, she grabbed the open can of cream soda away from him and returned to her bed. "I can just take it from you."

In exchange for her soda, she threw back the cherry soda to him. He smiled at her as he opened his soda. In the back of her mind, May wondered if they were actual friends. Nolan never referred to her as a friend and neither did she. Was it possible to call someone a friend after four days?

They were just partners.

Later in the evening, their other two teammates returned to do their homework as well. Roy finished first as the other two struggled to complete their assignments. Because of this, May and her teammate were the ones to sneak food from the cafeteria and into their dorm room. They made it out alive from there and started eating dinner in their dorm room.

Around eight o'clock, everyone's scroll went off. A mass text message was sent to every student by the headmaster himself. It told the students to go outside and grab the items being given out. Confused, both Brawnz and Nebula went outside to see a cart with eight pairs of glow-in-the-dark gloves with vests. As well as eight laser guns. Returning to the room, Brawnz tossed the gear at them. Again, everyone's scroll went off as the headmaster streamed himself on screen.

"I hope that everyone here just finished dinner! Because I know that none of you finished your homework!" He began with a hearty laugh. However, that laughter didn't last for long when his eyes glinted. "As a way to bond with your team, I'm here to announce that we'll be having our surprise laser-tag-warfare! It is a game of brutality, trust, and surprises! Each team will get glow-in-the-dark gear and a laser gun. We have installed each one with a code to tag other students and keep track of those points. Each student will be worth 10 points. While teachers are worth 20 points. As for the surprise... Students from 'target practice' classes are worth 40 points! The game will start as soon as every team is present in the hallways. When the lights go off, you can begin hunting down students! Please stay on campus grounds."

"Let's do this." May cracked a smirk, already dressed and ready to shoot. The rest of her team wasn't sure whether to feel happy or scared about her intents in this game.

Putting on the laser tag gear, both they went outside to see team NDGO ready for the game. For some odd reason, they could feel the trigger-happy and destructive energy coming from the sniper. They knew that May wasn't going to treat this as a friendly game. As soon as the lights went out, she was able to tag all four of them and disappear from the scene.

"Well then." Nebula looked at the silver-hair boy, tagging him as well.

The halls and rooms were dark. Black lights were used. Students wearing neon colors were easily exposed and easy to target. Somehow, the walls were splattered with glow-in-dark paint and sometimes even a slimy substance. It still remains a mystery why slime was used to decorate the walls. However, people would leave behind their footprints if they stepped into the glowing substance. The use of dust was banned in order to get teams to work as a group.

The game was absolute chaos as people were doing barrel rolls and sneaking up on their own friends. It was a risk to even have their scrolls out because the light would give them away. Pop music would be playing if the space was too quiet. Some teams were trying to raid others in alliances, only to fail when they turn their backs on each other.

And yet, it was just pure anarchic fun. Some teams were competitive while others would crack up jokes and taunt other teams. No one was sure if the game was exactly safe... But hey, they all had an aura to protect them when others tackled them. At one point, people were wondering if the headmaster was drunk enough to allow teachers into the game. Although, it was fun to tag the teachers as a way to get revenge for all the homework they were given.

No one knew how it happened. The students were just walking or hiding... When suddenly a beeping sound went off the moment they were tagged. May was tagging every opposing team at an alarming rate, but none of the students couldn't figure out who tagged them. Either way, she was unstoppable with her laser gun. The rest of her team didn't really know where she was, but they saw that they were winning on the leaderboards. The only safe zone was the headmaster's office. In there, he offered the students to select songs played during the game. In his opinion, he thought that it would get a certain team to rile up when their song was played. Some decided to choose ridiculous songs to catch everyone off-guard. Others would just choose a self-inserted song that they loved.

Kicking open the door, May walked in and went up the headmaster. He too, was happy to see a student with competitive energy and said that she could choose an entire podcast if she wanted to.

"I don't need a podcast." She stated, giving him a dark look. "I need one song to finish this game."

"Choose a song that lasts for four minutes." He said, giving her the screen. "I'll play it when the game is almost over."

After choosing a song, she left the office and went back into the dark hallways to seek her next victims in the game.

"Not to self, do not ever underestimate May." Roy said as he was walking with hi other two teammates.

"It's crazy how she got us in the lead." Brawnz pointed to one of the leaderboards nearby. He cringed when he saw team CHTS in second place. "But I'm not sure how those guys got in second."

Looking at the board for a moment, something literally set Nolan off and he quickly separated from his teammates. It took about a good ten minutes for both boys to realize that the redhead was gone. However, they shrugged it off because they knew that the game was almost over. However, they would have to avoid the opposing team from tagging them at all costs.

May knew that she got all of the teachers and students. Now, she was left to take out the students from her target practice class. For the most part, she wasn't sure if she got every last one of them and guessed that she was close. After taking out another student from her class, she blinked at a nearby leaderboard.

Team CHTS was beginning to tie with her team.

Her grip tightened on the laser gun she had. It didn't make sense. How did that team catch up with her abilities? She took out three of them because she saved the "target practice class students" last on the list.

Realization slapped her in the face. They must have somehow taken out two of her teammates. She didn't know who they struck, but she knew that she needed to hunt down CHTS's team leader. Running all over the entire campus, she tried to find the boy who could've taken down her teammates. Suddenly, the lights were flashing red in the hallways. A timer was blinking red on the walls.

Four minutes left.

May needed those forty points to win. Ignoring her tired legs, she continued to keep on walking and sneaking around the corners. Stopping at one corner, she inhaled a deep breath before exhaling. Her song was playing and she expected herself to take out everyone. Glancing at the leaderboard, there were only two minutes left. She groaned in frustration and kicked the wall.

"Hello May, I see that our teams are currently tied. It's obvious that I'm going to win." A voice said. She froze, knowing that her backside was vulnerable. Listening to the clacking noise from his gun, she knew that she could easily screw herself over. Chad continued to speak.  "...I'm sorry that you're going to be on the team full of losers!"

"No...!" Out of nowhere, Nolan threw himself in front of his partner. The laser hit his chest as he fell on the ground.

"Dammit you! I could have gotten forty points from her!" The blond yelled at him. But then, Chad's expression had changed. "At least I'll still be the winner here-"

"You mess with my friend..." The look in her eye was dead relentless. The sniper clicked her laser gun at her opponent. "You mess with me."

The timer was counting down. Without wasting another second, she clicked the laser gun pointed at the blond. When she landed a hit on him, the timer went off.

"No!"

May smiled because she knew that she won. She won for her team.

"Thanks for the save back there." Holding out her hand towards Nolan, she helped up her partner. He smiled back at her. All of a sudden, the dark hallways were flashing "Team BRNZ" everywhere as the airhorn of celebration sounded off. Leaderboards displayed the top four teams and the MVPs.

The photo of a young girl was featured for the winning team. A black beanie cover one of her dull blue eyes. Her smile was subtle, make her look to be the shy type. Her hair was above shoulder length, its color was similar to an orchid. The hoodie she wore covered up her red track jacket. Underneath the image read: "Team BRNZ's MVP: May Zedong."

Seeing this, her eye widened and she placed a hand over her mouth. The lights began to turn on as another image flashed on the screen. It revealed where she and Nolan were standing. Out of nowhere, Brawnz and Roy tackled their teammates as people were beginning to walk to this location. With all of the students around them, May hid immediately tucked her beanie over her face.

They didn't stay in the crowd for long because the headmaster told the winning teams to come outside. There, the headmaster was standing in the middle of the courtyard. He announced each team and the number of points they had received:

 

Team BRNZ: 6,760

Team CHTS: 6,730

Team NDGO: 6,010

Team FSHA: 5,980

 

As for the rewards, first place was given 100 lien each while the other teams were given gift cards with certain prices. After the awards were announced, the headmaster brought out a bottle and busted it open. No one was sure whether or not if it was sparkling cider or champagne. But it didn't matter because it was just for showing off.  At least, that's what everyone thought for the mean time.

Soon, it was over. The teachers sent students back to their dorm rooms so they could get enough sleep for tomorrow. Both teams BRNZ and NDGO began walking back to their dorm rooms. Saying goodnight to each other, everyone went to bed right away.

Two hours of running around took up a lot of energy. Especially because of how May decided to get every team and teacher on campus. Falling asleep, the images from the faded away. The crowds of students were not there. Her dreams were blank most of the time, except tonight. Something negative had caused the girl to toss and turn.

Something within the dream made her snap. Suddenly, she kicked out her sheets and woke up. A feeling of alarm pulsed through her brain as she tried to recall her blurry dream. Nothing happened.

Checking the time on her scroll, it was one in the morning. She sighed and shut her eyes closed again. Hopefully, she could get back to sleep. But something was keeping her up. May stayed awake for a few more minutes until she realized something.

She had just said Nolan was her _friend_.

Taking note of this, she was then able to fall asleep that morning.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't spray too much whipped cream in your mouth, kids. 
> 
> I am really serious about this.


End file.
